Bleach: "Mission! The Soul Reapers Have Come" Review

Rukia gives Ichigo some therapy, and the Shinigami are too cool for school.

The Arrancar arc continues with revelations galore, and we've gotten plenty of fresh material to ponder already. But the pace has been kind of odd so far, and this episode was more about comedy and cute than action, and it had a high level of exposition as well. With that said, it also had some great Rukia scenes, and fan service. I guess it all balances out.

It started where we left off in the last episode, with Rukia returning. She says hello to Ichigo with a kick to the face. Her reappearance is the best part of this episode, really. Every real Bleach fan has probably missed her bunches. She even has a scene where she makes some cute arrancar drawings to illustrate one of the long expository speeches that this show is known for. It seems that the one most happy to see her is Kon, as evidenced by his tearful reunion with her. That was seriously LOL worthy.

Rukia's main role in this episode is as mentor and cheerleader, as she takes Ichigo to handle a low-level Hollow problem to get his head back in the game. Hollow Ichigo is still messing with his confidence, though. Rukia gives him a pep talk that works out, and it appears that Ichigo's brief Shinji Ikari moment is over. That's a good thing.

The Soul Reapers haven't even been at Ichigo's school for a whole day and they're already causing havoc. The shtick with the Soul Reapers in the classroom comprised a significant portion of the story, with quite a bit of comedy revolving around Rangiku's dirty pillows.

Another fun moment in this installment entails Ichigo's family spying on him and chatting about his choice of girls to bring home. This family is hilariously dysfunctional in so many ways.

Hitsugaya provides some more info about the Menos and Vasto Lordes, Arrancars, and some other jibber jabber, and some background about what's going on with the details of Aizen's plan. It's quite an epic info dump, but probably unavoidable (and doesn't Hitsugaya look cute in his little school uniform?). The topic of all this conversation, Aizen, makes an appearance at the very end with Yammy and Ulquiorra in a scene that is certainly foreboding, though perhaps a bit too melodramatic.

I couldn't escape the feeling that this episode was a bit slow. It seemed like a bunch of comedic montages strung together in between a couple of scenes that actually advanced the story. There should be more of a sense of impending danger here, considering the very serious threat that Aizen and his forces pose, and there are some side stories (like the drama between Uryu and his father) that might have been better fits for this episode instead of the funny but irrelevant scenes with the Soul Reapers in school.

All in all, it's not a bad episode. It was certainly nothing remarkable in the grand scheme of Bleach, but it was worth some laughs, it reintroduced Rukia, and it clarified a lot about these new villains we'll be seeing throughout this arc. It seems we'll have to be patient while the drama builds up and the players are set in their roles. Let's hope the real core of this storyline arrives soon.